Sunday, August 23, 2009

The day was amazing! Mr Frenchie and I were surrounded by so much love we are still on cloud nine. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend.

By the time you read this we'll be on our way to Canada, for 9, GLORIOUS days! Words cannot express what the Weddingbee community has meant to be this last year and I cannot wait (okay, I can a little... I mean I will be on my honeymoon) to come back and tell you all about it. To my fellows Bees, especially Mr & Mrs Bee, BIL Bee and Pengy, you are incredible! And, although I have only met a handful of you in person, I love you. Thank you for all your support and kind words.

P.S. I got to refer to Mr Frenchie as my husband, about 5 times today :)

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Mr Frenchie is SUPER nervous about our wedding ceremony. He hates public speaking and being the center of attention (one thing we are complete opposites on). Standing in front of all 130 of our guests with all eyes on us is really stressing him out.

Last night we got together to run through our ceremony so he knew exactly when things were happening and when and what he was supposed to do and say. I'm really glad we decided to do this because I found a section of out service that didn't sit right with me. At the beginning of the ceremony under "Welcome & Statement of Marriage" there was this paragraph...

"Marriage is a gift from God given to us as a holy mystery in which a man and a woman are joined together and become one, just as Christ is one with the church."

I know this is common statement at weddings, but as a supporter of Marriage Equality, this just didn't sit right with me. I sat there wondering if I should bring this up to our officiant or just let it slide. The more I thought about it the more I knew I needed to ask her to change it. I was a little nervous to make waves so close to our wedding, but I love Leanne, and I knew she would take my feeling and beliefs into consideration regarding this issue, whether or not she agrees with me.

So, I called up Leanne this afternoon and asked her if we could change it to read...

"...in which two people are joined together and become one..."She was very supportive of my request and understood my reasoning behind it. I know I'm very fortunate to have an officiant who will let me alter our ceremony and I'm even more fortunate to have one that will let me change something to include Gay marriage. That (among other reasons) is why I LOVE our officiant.

Were/are you able to alter you ceremony to more reflect your relationship and beliefs?

Friday, August 7, 2009

Perfect and Simple are the two words I would use to describe my wedding band.

I had a hard time finding the perfect wedding band to match the gorgeous ring Mr Frenchie gave me when he proposed. James Allen, has a band that matches the ring perfectly, but it just wasn't my style. I found it to blingy and I thought all the little diamonds overshadowed the beautiful center stone Mr Frenchie looked so hard to find.

I toyed with the idea of having just a plain white gold band, but I really wanted a little bit of bling on my wedding band. Elsa Peretti makes a ring for Tiffan & Co., that is a simple band with a single tiny diamond set inside.

Mr Frenchie and I went to Tiffany & Co. one day to check out the ring, but unfortunately it only came in platinum or sterling silver. I really wanted my rings to be from the same metals, so they aged similarly, so that was out.

It was perfect, simple, yet still had some bling. I had to have it. Since this band was not available for online sale I decided to try and find the ring somewhere else.

Where did I turn, but Etsy of course. Searching around Etsy I came across seller singleBbeautiful. I fell in love with having a custom ring and loved that she used recycled metals and only conflict free diamonds. Justine, had this ring in her shop for just the right price, so I emailed her.

I made sure that I could get the ring in my odd 6.75 size, the width of the ring wouldn't be bigger than my engagement ring and it would be made in white gold. Justine, got back to me right away and answered all my questions. I bought/ordered the ring the same day I discovered it.

Yesterday, when I got home my ring had arrived. YAY! Of course, I had to try it on to make sure it fit (and take pictures for all of you)!

In the box... I'm going to miss that bedspread when I move in with Mr Frenchie

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Early this week I went to my second dress fitting, I only have one more! I cannot believe the countdown to the French Bulldog wedding has entered the teens! EEEEE!Monday, with about a half an hour left of work, something told me to check the card where my next appointment with Mahtab had been written. Thank God, I did, because it was scheduled for 5:30pm that day. (After my Bride Brain confession, I started taking steps to become more organized and I have written everything on a calendar at my desk, I got the card out to add her to my calendar).

*** Mr. Frenchie, with umpteen days left to go, I'm sure you can make it without peeking, No Lookie por favor***

After work I had just enough time to go home, grab my shoes and rush over to Mahtab's house. Everything happens for a reason though, because if I had remembered, in the morning, to bring my shoes, it most likely wouldn't have occured to me to bring my veil. I hadn't been able to take any pictures of it since it arrived two weekends ago because I misplaced my camera.So, the stars aligned and I remembered my appointment, grabs my shoes, my veil and my camera and drove to Mahtab's. PHEW!I wish the picks of my dress had some dramatic change from the last time, but if you remember, there wasn't a whole lot to fix to begin with. Mahtab, took in the top of the dress so it lays flatter in my boobal area, added my bustle and took up the bottom a little. In the pictures, it looks pretty much the same as the last time I showed you. However, up-close the hem is AMAZING! Mahtab cut the lace detailing off the bottom, shortened the dress and is re-sewing it back on! I thought forsure I would just lose the lace on the bottom, but Mahtab is awesome and that is why I heart her.Check out the goofy grin! Geez, I must love you guys for putting this on the internet.

Now for the back...The bustle is finished... or should I say almost finished, we decided to add one more hook so I can take the middle of the bustle (below the bow strings) and pin it up just below the bow. It's hard to visualize but I'll take pics for you when I got back next Tuesday.Now, for the really exciting part, my veil. I had tried on a couple veils at a few different salons. I knew I wanted a shorter veil because I kept pulling the veil around my shoulders when I would try-on the longer ones.I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do, but then I saw Miss Bruschetta's post on veils and I feel in love with the look of this veil.

Isn't my buddy, Bru, GORGEOUS!?!

A lot of people suggested she contact Mrs. Sea Breeze who started her own business making veils, so I decided to take their suggestions and I emailed Kasia. First off, Kasia is a total sweetheart, and a absolute joy to work with. I sent her pictures of my dress and the picture of Miss Bruschetta and, although she had never made anything like it before, she agreed to try.

I couldn't be more happy with the result.

She put three layers of tulle - the top and bottom layers are a tighter weave tulle and the middle layer has a larger weave. I love that it's a mix and I love that it's poofy and short, but still covers my back a little. I'm so happy Kasia agreed to make my veil because I found nothing like this in my area... Canada is SO lucky!

Did you have to go somewhere other than a bridal salon to find the veil of your dreams?

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

As you may have read, Red Robin had a swarm of Bees last week. Yes, swarm, there were 14 of us! Can you believe it? On a Tuesday?

There were burgers, french fries, lemonades and I think I even saw a milkshake! Our waitress was SO excited to be serving a table of brides she brought us 2 complimentary mud slides at the end of the meal. Forget my wedding dress, I dug right in!

It was so much fun having a table of brides to talk wedding with for an evening. Thank you all so much for coming, I had a wonderful time meeting you! Hopefully we can do it again in October, after Miss Duckling, Miss Sprinkle and I are all officially Mrs's.

I also want to say CONGRATULATIONS again to our new Mommy-to-be, PrettyKitty! You are going to make an amazing mother :)

Who doesn't like Shrinky Dinks!?! Our original plan was to make our own birdie place-card holders, but when we found the heartshaped memo clips we decided to put the birdies somewhere else. You can probably guess where, but you'll have to wait to see them in action.

We made 130 of these bad boys! Did some thing that was once simple end up taking you a lot more time?